What is Digg?95 Comments
- headzoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+125I don't think they'd care. The idea is to not feel attachment towards something you put all of your heart and soul into.
- vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+91Actually, at the end they sweep away the art... Which is to represent that nothing in permanent and so continues the cycle of death and rebirth.
- utcursch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36A sand mandala symbolises the transitory nature of things in Buddhism -- once it has been built and its accompanying ceremonies and viewing are finished, it is systematically destroyed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_mandala
Rangoli is a similar art:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli
http://images.google.com/images?q=rangoli - loquax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+37Guys--
First off, Buddhism is really not a religion. They are non-theistic in the Western sense of the word, and they are not a philosophy in the Western sense of the word. Buddhism is more of a practice or a method. It is more akin to a "science" than anything many of the trappings of Buddhism (such as sand paintings) are in fact tools to get at knowledge about ones "self " (whatever that is) and the universe (whatever that is). Buddhism is not something you "believe" it is something you "do" (meditation, trying to wake up, etc). I am a Christian (i.e. I believe in God and Christ), I occasionally practice Buddhism (meditate, etc). I have studied Chan Buddhism for a few years, but there are many different types that try to get at a different sense of waking up (which is what "Buddha" means it has Indo-European roots in "being" and "wakefulness").
Jesus was not a Buddhist, he was a Jew. Some of the practices he advocated were Buddhist-like, and with contacts across the ancient world being much more extensive than what people generally admit to, he may have been influenced by Pythagoras, Buddha, Taoism, etc without explicitly acknowledging it.
The long and short of it is that:
1) Buddhism is something you do.
2) Anyone of any faith can do the Buddhist thing.
3) Doing the Buddhist thing takes lots of work (or non-work) and discipline.
4) It is damn hard to really wake up, and it is frightening. - imeddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26Yes. That's the point.
Btw http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/online/mandala/ - Gadren, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Several years ago, Buddhist monks came to the art museum here in Kansas City and worked on one of these mandalas for several days, and let people watch (from a distance of course!) while they did so. One it was done, they immediately swept it up and poured the sand into the Missouri River as a symbolic blessing.
I'm no Buddhist, but I have to respect anyone who will make such amazing things. - EricCiccone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23I saw Tibetan monks creating a mandala at school (Fairfield U), it was absolutely incredible to watch the concentration and effort put into these things. They also set up a station where people could try the art themselves, really an incredible experience.
- carbonetc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22I saw the same in Savannah, GA years ago. It's more about the exercise than the result. Think of it as a meditation.
The funny thing was that some Baptist guy came to protest the exercise. He thought it was some sort of idol worship. I got the feeling even his congregation didn't take him that seriously, as he was the only one who showed up.
The monks just smiled lovingly at him of course. - OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20Preaching tolerance is not Buddhism, it's wisdom.
- rocktopotomus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19@ loquax
Zen Buddhism like other forms of Buddhism IS non-theistic, and somewhat more akin to a philosophy, but there are many forms of Buddhism that do have gods and are by definition religions. The guys doing this mandala in fact are Tibetan Buddhists who have a huge pantheon of gods.
Zen(or Chan) Buddhism != all Buddhism
saying it does makes you sound ignorant. - alllie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20All things are transitory. Nothing lasts.
- burke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20yes
- dyslexicsUNTIED, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17they came to Fairfield University which is in the next town over from me, they were just amazing.
- arcangelgabriel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15I'm quite impressed regarding the amount of positive comments in this thread.
Refreshing. - Philluminati, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15
I could never show that skill patience and I won't even pretend to have half of what they have.
My hat is off to them. - azimuthal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17@ROCKTOPOTOMUS
The pictures are not permanent either. Nothing last forever. - CapeKid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I would love to see this in time lapse.
- avasol, on 10/12/2007, -21/+34Jesus was a Buddhist. He spent his 20's in eastern asia. The resurrection (to rise again, to live again) is reincarnation, which is what he preached. To have no attachment to worldly things or issues is 4000 year old Buddhism which lead to Christianity (a mix-up of Greek, Egyptian, Jewish mythology) in the form of Jesus the historical person. To forgive all transgressions and love even those who hate you or hurt you - Buddhism. To use your mind and criticize Government, totalitarian rule, or any authority claiming to know the one true way = Jesus. Buddhism.
Yeah I'll get dugg down by the people who claim to be Christians without having any understanding or education of the truest roots of Christianity. But fact of the matter is that even Origen (the first living-at-the-same-century Christian gnostic) saw this correlation clearly. Hell even die-hard Christians will have a hard time denying that even Catholicism has plenty of scholars acknowledging reincarnation or transmigration as the main theoretical doctrine of Christianity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation - Or metempsychosis as it is often called. - BevansDesign, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Hey everyone, the sneeze joke is old. It's been done several times in this thread alone.
Not only that, but you're completely missing the point. - str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13just fyi, it's not actually called sand art. It's a Hindu practice called kollaporam (sorry that's spelt wrong, I have no idea how to spell it)..it's usually done as something artistic, or for meditation..but you'll find it near the doorsteps of peoples homes and in temples..and there are some really detailed and amazing works done ...
really amazing one:
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7242/sandartms9.jpg
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7884/sand20artuk1.jpg - Leviter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10This just the short version of the whole process. On http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/buddhistart/construction.htm the whole process can be seen.
- Tiggi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Awesome sand art...Requires so much patience, skills and what is more - fantasy - to create such a beauty.
- spd998, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@ Fluck
***** off. So blocked. - caudron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8A short koan on the subject of impermanence:
http://tom.digitalelite.com/2006_04_26_09_02_00.html
Yes, it's a link to an old entry from my blog. No I don't care if you think it's blogspam. Just trying to offer more to the conversation here. Don't like it? Don't click it. Won't hurt my feelings. Just think some might find it interesting and maybe even useful to understanding why they might destroy so casually what they've made. :)
What is a koan? This should explain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan
Tom Caudron - championchap, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Sounds to me like you need some.
Before I lost my virginity I remember that it was a really big deal to me! About as big as it seems to be to you.
Now I couldn't care less.. it's just sex. - utcursch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@str3ama
Actually, this is not Kolam (I guess that's what you mean by kollaporam) -- it's similar to Kolam, though. There are many such similar arts of different origins, which use colored powders or sand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpainting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangoli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_mandala
BTW, these images are from ackland.org -- the site has many more images of Sand mandala construction:
http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/buddhistart/construction.htm
http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/buddhistart/construction2.htm
...
http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/buddhistart/construction8.htm - dimatt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Anger issues much?
Looks amazing btw. I could never stay still enough to do something like that :s - The_Goose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6BTW, this "event" took place 6 years ago, in 2001 (Started February 21st; Completed March 21st; Dismantled June 8th). It was created by the Ithaca monks, but it was done in Chapel Hill, NC.
- imeddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5(imho) The koan is not about impermanence, it's about emptiness. 'Impermanence' is just one of the mind's ways of projecting one-ness into (apparent) separateness. In reality there is no becoming and no ending. No ax, no Buddha. Just 'what is'.
- glasnostic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The monks came to San Antonio and made one of these over a period of many days. then walked it outside and dumped it into our river.
i think i would like to see them place the mandala on a spinning platform and turn the dial up to 10. - carbonetc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The big truths transcend religion. They're universal. To grant a single religion ownership of them trivializes them a bit, I think.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you have some ice cream, I will give you some.
If you have no ice cream, I will take it away.
It is an ice cream koan.
(From Linux fortunes file) - idigit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'm actually from Ithaca NY and have talked to most of these monks. They're the nicest people you will ever meet.
- str3ama, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7they do these kind of things daily, really artistic work
- Shuk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think it's awesome that they can exercise their acceptance of a transitory world, and their disconnect from greed and attachment. I have great respect for Buddhists for trying to rise above the seemingly insatiable desires (such as sex, greed, possessions) that is inherent in humankind. If made something like this, it would eat me alive to destroy it.
- swrostmore, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Rocktopotomus: Tibetan buddhism actually is nontheistic; like the hindu religion they recognize that their pantheon of "gods" are all aspects of the psyche. However it is practiced differently by the "lower classes" in Tibet, they have combined buddhism with their local naturalist religion, Bon, which is theistic.
- swrostmore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4this is SAMSARRA!!!
- KiltedMile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH will be doing a mandala next week with a live webcam, the preview page is here: http://www.xavier.edu/mandala/
- MeltingIce, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3We had Buddhist monks come to our school and do a sand manadala. It was amazing the amount of patience and craftwork that went into it.
- PillowFight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My sister has a couple of pictures of similar work some monks did at her school: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephw/18457969/in/set-428145/
I am studying Buddhism myself at the moment...obviously I have a long way to go because I would just die if I made something that beautiful only to have it swept away. Amazing stuff. - mahdaeng, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2interestingly similar to the sand art done by aboriginal american groups such as the navajo and hopi
i can't find the best examples in the few spare minutes i have to post this, but here is at least a taste: http://www.snowwowl.com/naartsandp.html
it's interesting to note the similarities in the symbolism of colors and cardinal directions used
fascinating stuff - k1down, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, I bet there is some video of that out there somewhere.
- TheScrutinizer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why was GetShorty buried? The link he provided had more pictures than the original article. I'm beginning to think that the serious core of Digg users, (that have nothing to do but rate comments all day) are becoming more like cultish Scientologists with every passing day.
- StrangeFamous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ithaca FTW! I love Ithaca! I've seen some of the monks walking around downtown.
- Vinthian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4that guy on the right is cheating >_> ur not suppose to wear a mouth covering... the point is to control your breath...
- InstantABS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What counts most in Buddhism is patience and the ability to stay away from affections - just like someone above in the comments mentioned
- these people won't suffer even if their piece of art is gone in a minute or so. Because art creation is done for the sake of art itself - they really put all of their heart and soul into the process. And I love their outstanding art. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks Leviter -
I was hoping there was a link I could forward to friends to see these great pics, but without the lame ass-shot thumbnails and links to stupid human trick videos. - FuzzyTheDuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, and it's been made before. More then once.
- bat-21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The Navajo use sandpaintings in healing ceremonies. The paintings are conduits for good spirits and trap the illness. The paintings are then destroyed to eliminate the illness.
- ZomgWarlocks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@avasol
Your lack of comprehension of literary technique and devices is truly astonishing if you think those passages imply the concept of reincarnation. Certainly, certain people believed in such concepts as many different cultures gathered in Jerusalem at such time; however, it is not to be found within Jesus' teachings nor is it implied by the setting and context that the writing gives. In other words, you're missing the cultural and religious backdrop in which these passages were written.
Most of these ideas came forth from the gnostic legends; all of which have been thoroughly disproved by rigorous academic research and analysis. You may try to make a case for the correlation of Christ and Buddhism but you do so by stretching, breaking, and creating facts that are not accurate nor existent. Remember, the plural of fact never equals truth. -
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